Liam Payne: Five people charged in connection with One Direction star’s death, prosecutors say

CNN
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Five people have been charged in connection with the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne in Argentina, the country’s prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

The British singer fell to his death from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires in October. He was 31.

A person identified as Payne’s “representative,” as well as the hotel’s manager and its front desk manager, have been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors said. If they are convicted, they risk up to five years in prison.

A hotel employee and a local waiter have also been accused of supplying Payne with cocaine during his stay, and the judge has ordered them to be jailed ahead of their trial. They risk up to 15 years in prison.

The court has not revealed the identity of the accused, beyond their professional roles in relation to the victim.

Payne had alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system before his death, Argentine prosecutors said last month.

Judge Laura Bruniard, presiding over the case, concluded that due to his intoxicated state, Payne would have mistaken the balcony of the hotel room for a possible exit, and when he tried to leave the balcony, he lost his life in an unplanned fall.

Citing evidence gathered from expert reports, witness statements and footage from cameras at the hotel, the judge said Payne had been in the hotel lobby in an obvious state of intoxication minutes before his October 16 fall.

“At 4:54 p.m. that day, Liam Payne was unconscious in the reception area at Casa Sur and was dragged by three people” to his room, Bruniard said.

The hotel manager is accused of having witnessed the moment when Payne was in the lobby and of having “at least by omission enabled” the transfer of the victim to a room with a balcony, “which was a source of risk to Payne .” according to the judge.

The receptionist is accused of guiding a group of three people who dragged Payne from the lobby to the room. “The conduct that should have been carried out was to keep him safe in an area without sources of danger, in company and until he received medical attention,” the judge also concluded.

Payne’s representative is accused of leaving the hotel 50 minutes before Payne fell, despite being aware of the singer’s vulnerable condition. The defendant “failed to fulfill his duties of care, aid and assistance,” the statement from the public prosecutor’s office said, “and abandoned (Payne) to his fate, knowing that he was unable to care for himself, well knowing that the accused suffered from multiple addictions.” The representative, who is American, has been prevented from leaving Argentina.

Although the hotel manager, receptionist and representative are charged with manslaughter, the judge ruled that they did not act together or in a premeditated manner.

As for those accused of supplying drugs, Bruniard has ordered them to serve preventive detention.

Payne had spoken openly about his struggles with substance abuse and his mental health. In the summer of 2023, Payne said he marked six months of sobriety after completing treatment at a US facility. Payne’s tour was supposed to start in South America in September of that year, but he had to put off the scheduled dates after suffering a kidney infection.

Payne’s death shocked the music world. He rose to global stardom as part of One Direction, one of Britain’s biggest boy bands of all time. was formed on the British X Factor in 2010. The group, which included members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, announced an “indefinite hiatus” in 2016.

The four former bandmates attended Payne’s funeral service in Amersham, north-west London, at the end of November. Music mogul Simon Cowell – who was behind the group’s formation on the X Factor – was also on hand.

Shortly before his death, Payne had been seen in Argentina attending his former bandmate Horan’s concert.

On the night of October 16, staff at the hotel where Payne had been staying requested emergency police assistance. In an emergency call received by CNN’s Argentine affiliate Todo Noticias, an employee told police: “We have a guest who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol … He’s breaking things up. He’s tearing the whole room apart.”